NOS Model 11

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TommyK
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Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2015 10:56 pm

NOS Model 11

Post by TommyK »

Well no, not New Old Stock, but Newbie (me) Old Stock (also me), Model 11, my new acquisiton.

I hadn't owned a shot gun in many years. I was in the market for one, but I like to save a buck where ever I can. My better half suggested we attend a weekend gun show up north. I had 20 gauge on the mind as this is what my dad owned. for... well I don't know why. Something modest and used, maybe? Then there it was, a high back Remington/Browning. I always thought this was a cool looking gun and the price was right as it had a wooden stock and forearm. Not sure why plastic stocks seems to be more expensive, but I'm a traditionalist. I love walnut. The other thing that kept the price down is that the butt stock was not OEM, or so far as I could tell. The shape was utilitarian and un-checkered. I'd never researched this type of Browning design, but it was right there in front of me and the price was right. Also, the wrist of the butt stock was cracked into about 4 pieces, then pinned together with... what appear to be 6 or 8d finishing nails, filed flush. The other less than pristine-ness was that during either the initial re-fit and / or pinning together of the pieces is that the PO had used a file or rasp to flush this area of the stock, not taking enough care to not score the metal parts holding the stock on. UGH!

But the price was right. A bargain was struck and we went home.

Next day, after the obligatory 'cooling off' period, I went to the gun shop to pick her up.

A thing of beauty, albeit modestly rough.

The next weekend we took her out to the range to put the first rounds through her. The gun shop owner assured me she functioned perfectly, and boy did she! Not wanting to put too much stress on the gun I bought modest rounds 7.5 shot. 7 bucks for 20 shells, what a deal. (probably cheaper / round than some .22 lr's I've seen for sale... when you can see them on the shelf (I'm in Illinois... 'nuff said))

I had never fired a 12 gauge, neither had I ever fired an autoloader. I steeled myself the "kick of the mule", but was quite pleased with the recoil. So much so, I touched off several tubes full of rounds. I was also puzzled by what seemed to be an unusual operation. Kind of a BOOM, Ka, Chunk. And, the shells, much to my surprise, ejected forward?

I was pleased with the grouping. No not the patterning of the shot down-range, but that of the spent shells. All landed in the grass within an area that could be contained by a 12" circle.

A bit of history. Back in the 1940's my Dad went to the big city of Streator, Illinois, with his dad, my Grandpa. I suppose he was shopping for machinery, livestock or such, when Grandpa's thirst needed to be slaked. A stop at a local pub was in order. While Grandpa quaffed a beer, Dad had a soft drink. You see, Dad was either 8 or 11 years old (the details get fuzzy in MY old age). Part of the entertainment at the tavern was the fabled Tip Board. Probably illegal at the time, but along and near the Illinois river, folks from the big city on the lake plied their trade with impunity from Cicero to Spring Valley. Rumor has it they still do. Never the less, Grandpa bought a chance for himself and one for Dad. Guess what? Dad won! What did he win? A Browning autoloader! My guess it was a Model 11 or a derivative! Maybe this is why I am drawn to this gun. Anyway, Dad didn't get to take the gun home, though. Money was tight back then and Grandpa opted to take the cash equivalent instead of the gun. I'm sure Grandpa thought such a fancy gun was not practical back on the farm, as his break action (unknown make) still functioned. He needed the money for more important things like machinery repair or fuel.

A YooToob search revealed to me that this is quite a unique gun. The recoil is much like the French 75 Grandpa helped man, back in the fall of '18 during the 'War to end all Wars". I'd never known anyone made a shotgun with a recoiling barrel. What a marvel!

Thanks to this site, I now know mine was made in 1914. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Who knew?... well certainly not me. As this is no museum piece, it appears to be well used, but not worn out, I intend her to be a shooter, not a wall hanger.

When I was a wee one back in the 1960's a hundred year old gun was likely a muzzle loader. I've seen many of these being used today, so why not use a 100 year old gun today?

I have lots and lots of questions but I've already used up a lot of ink on this post so I'll ask my most pressing question:

After removing the fore-end stock, I deduced the fore end lumber is probably OEM. The checkering appears to be correct, and the wood just looks old. But the detent in the front end of the stock still works to detain the tube cap. The removed fore-end revealed a long spring with a ring on top. The ring appeared to be movable, not fixed. "Curious?" I thought. This part of the mechanism was liberally oiled form top of the magazine tube to bottom including the aforementioned spring and ring. YooToob also taught me the purpose of the ring and it's function to adjust the strength of recoil based on ammunition load. My thoughts is that if it is too free to move there may not be enough tension on the spring.

Getting to my question: As this friction ring is what controls the recoil spring's compression strength, how well lubed should it be? Could too much unrestrained travel cause damage to the machinery if the friction rings lose too much friction?



TommyK

"If you've got time to breathe, you've got time for music"
"If you have time to breathe, you have time for music," Briscoe Darling
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